Practical Access Podcast

S7 E4: CEC with Co-Teaching Dr. Marilyn Friend

March 08, 2022 Season 7 Episode 4
Practical Access Podcast
S7 E4: CEC with Co-Teaching Dr. Marilyn Friend
Show Notes Transcript

Today's episode was recorded live at the CEC 100th Anniversary with Dr. Marilyn Friend. Dr. Marilyn Friend is one of the foremost experts on co-teaching. Since the 1990s, she has written extensively about co-teaching, which she suggests can be a highly effective way of providing students with special needs access to the general curriculum in the least restrictive environment. With her extensive personal experience and research demonstrating the power of co-teaching, Dr. Friend is a strong proponent of this service delivery option.

Tune in as Drs. Rebecca Hines and Lisa Dieker honor, celebrate, and reflect on Dr. Friend's career, the Council of Exceptional Education (CEC)'s past 100 years while also thinking ahead to the future. Don't forget we love to hear from our listeners! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We look forward to receiving your questions on our Google Phone (407) 900- 9305, Facebook (Practical Access), Twitter (@AccessPractical), or Instagram (@Practical_Access).

Lisa Dieker  0:07  
Welcome to practical access. I'm Lisa Dieker. And I'm Rebecca Heinz. And, Lisa, I'm so excited about this episode, we'll be talking with someone who's made a profound difference in both of our careers and also in the lives of children across the world. Yeah, so we're so excited to have with us today, Maryland friend. Thank you, Marilyn, for joining us very happy to be here. Yeah. And Marilyn, as many know, is a guru of many things. But she's also a professor emeritus at UNC Greensboro. And she is a consultant who's impacting schools and districts across the country across the globe. So thank you for taking time to join us today. And we kind of start with a first question asking you and sometimes we will, it was a tough question. But what are you most proud of to this point that you've really made an impact in the field to date? I agree with all of the people who say that that's a hard question.

Dr. Marilyn Friend  0:58  
Question. And I guess if I really think about it, what I hope most is that I have been an influence on all of the teachers and administrators and other professionals who work with students with disabilities. And I, I sincerely hope that through writing textbooks that I am told, translate research to practice in a way that make them consumable by teacher candidates. And that by working in schools with professionals who have their sleeves rolled up, and they're in the weeds, and they're trying to make it work, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, that I can help them step back, and kind of assess their practice and look at a new place to go and feel good about what they're doing. But know that there's an additional oomph that they can give it that will be even better for kids. And that, to me, is what I hope I'm doing. My brother who's in business once said, I'm so glad there are people like you who want to save the world. I guess that's part of being a special educator.

Rebecca Hines  2:09  
It is I think that's something that we all three have in common is that, that sincere desire, and it's our pleasure to have you here. So, Marilyn, that special, we all know as people who trained teachers, it's hard to define. It's hard to define, and it's hard to acquire if you're a young teacher or a new teacher. So let's say I'm a brand new teacher, and I'm walking into a setting where I'm going to be collaborating and I wasn't trained for that. Can you give us some practical tips on what someone can do to get started in a collaborative setting?

Dr. Marilyn Friend  2:49  
Sure. The first thing that new teachers should do is write a letter to their university and ask why they didn't receive explicit training in collaboration. Because if you're going to be a 21st century educator, collaboration is kind of a condition for employment. So that would be my number one. Now, that new teacher though, facing working on maybe a professional learning community, or grade level team, or hopefully some co-teaching, I think there are several things that new teachers should do. One is to be humble, and listen a lot, but be assertive, and understand what your job is, and not be willing to do just what anybody says you should do. You really need to get your own true north in order and be confident of the skills that you bring, be able to articulate those skills, and to offer ideas on how they can mesh with the work of other educators in the school. I think that's the starting point. Because if special educators work at a disadvantage from the sense of power in the technical sense, then it's very unlikely that they'll be able to accomplish what they need to accomplish with students. I think something else is to realize this is developmental, whatever the kind of collaboration, and making sure to celebrate small progress, and to really recognize when those relationships are being built, and to gradually grow the network. And the overall collegiate community is something that should be done with purpose, and with a recognition that it won't happen in the first six weeks of school. But on the other hand, I think teachers also have to keep in mind they have to have their own little collaborative houses in order so that they are not participating in kind of gossip and other things that go on that they try to solve problems with their colleagues, that they be willing to speak up a little bit, recognizing that they're at a disadvantage when they're brand new in their schools. Those are a few things I'd suggest Perfect.

Rebecca Hines  5:00  
I love it. I wish she would have told me that before I started to say, well, it you know, I love some of the words you said celebration, get your true north. And you know, that's what you reflect, you know, cc president, you know, you haven't just been a professor, but you've really given to the field and this is the 100th anniversary of CC. So I would love for you to think with us or share with us. Where do you see this future roadmap for collaboration? Inclusion co-teaching, that work that you've done? Where do you where do you hope it goes? What's what's your vision for the future, so we can all be on your coattails and write it.

Dr. Marilyn Friend  5:39  
When computers renew, every new version that came out was a gigantic leap. And the technology was just jaw droppingly different and changed. And we often had to learn gigantic new things. And then over the past, what, maybe six, seven years, the changes are not gigantic, the big things are there already. And until we get quantum computing, which will come in, that will be a big lift. But until we go in that direction, its nuances. And its subtleties, and it's deepening. I think that's the same for the entire discipline of collaborative educator practice, that we used to say collaboration, but it was probably mostly cooperation. And for a while with co teaching, we talked about professional marriages, which is so 1990s now. And we now recognize that its partnership, some of those great big shifts that were needed, I think have happened. And what I see going forward is that we will deepen and broaden and strengthen. In co teaching, it will be about stable relationships over time, with adequate time to prepare for the quality delivery of instruction. But the emphasis will be on what is good quality instruction, as we're collaborating on teams, I think it will be something similar, it won't be that the teams will be completely different. But they will have a clear focus, they will have a clear purpose, they will have better data collection. So that as we work together on behalf of students, we are yes, embracing children and having relationships, but we use data to make the decisions. And so I don't think at this point, it's about giant new. I think at this point, it's more about subtleties.

Rebecca Hines  7:39  
Love it. Marilyn, from the work that you do in the schools that you visit, and you mentioned these, these nuances. Is there is there an overriding layer that you see is needed in many places. Is it the data, for example, is there. Is there a need for more focus on specific data on specific students? Or do you happen to see that there's more information needed about getting started with collaboration,

Dr. Marilyn Friend  8:16  
I'd go in a different direction, perfect. The greatest need is for administrators in preparation, and those in practice, not just to talk about collaboration, and say they're supportive of the teachers who are collaborating. But to deeply understand it as a pillar of what it means to be a 21st century administrator and put in place the structures for it, the practices that foster it, and then hold themselves and teachers accountable for it. And I think that teachers will rise to the occasion because they always do. And if the expectations are clear, and the professional development is there, they'll grow as collaborative colleagues. But I think too often, what's missing is the deep understanding on the part of site and district administrators who are really the people who will cause this to happen. You know, organic growth of this is great. And in many cases, some of the best partnerships are organic. But we don't get systemic change. We don't get feasibility. We don't get sustainability unless we have that strong administrative support.

Lisa Dieker  9:33  
So wonderful advice. We really appreciate you taking time to be on the podcast and your voice in the field is just one that we both so appreciate. And thanks for your leadership.

Dr. Marilyn Friend  9:43  
Thank you. Thanks for all your hard work. Enjoyed it.

Lisa Dieker  9:45  
All right, thank you. If you have any questions, you can tweet us at Access practical or you can post questions on our Facebook page. Thank you.